University basketball team to play on the big stage as part of partnership deal with BBL club 27/01/11

The University of Chichester Thunder will feature in a basketball double-header this weekend alongside BBL club Worthing Thunder.

The University side will play their National League Division 4 South West match against Guernsey, which will be followed by Worthing Thunder’s British Basketball League (BBL) match against the Sheffield Sharks. The BBL is the UK’s premier basketball league, with games featuring regularly on Sky TV.

The two matches will take place at Worthing Leisure Centre, the home of Worthing Thunder, which usually attracts around 500 fans, making it one of the largest crowds that the University of Chichester Thunder will have played in front of.

The National League game will tip off at 5.00pm, while the BBL match will start at 7.30pm. Fans can see both games for just £5 for adults and £2 for children.

The opportunity for the University of Chichester Thunder to play at Worthing Leisure Centre has come as a result of a partnership agreement between the clubs, giving the University players a route to the top level of UK basketball while continuing their studies at the West Sussex institution.

The University side has become an official ‘nursery’ team for Worthing Thunder, meaning University players can now be signed to play for both teams if they are good enough to play at BBL standard. It is widely expected a number of Chichester players will feature in the Worthing Thunder squad before the end of the season.

The University of Chichester Thunder will also play at the Worthing Leisure Centre on 26 February when they take on the Taunton Tigers.

Sid Fletcher, Sports Development Manager for the University of Chichester Students’ Union, said: “I am pleased we have been able to build our relationship with Worthing Thunder to a level where they have agreed to adopt us as an official nursery team. This gives us a strong base on which we can build our development work, which is designed to give our players the opportunity to be coached and play at the highest level possible, while continuing to study at University.”

University libraries make the most of its old books 25/01/11

The University of Chichester has reinvested nearly £20,000 in new books by selling old publications through a simple but effective scheme.

In the libraries at its Bishop Otter and Bognor Regis Campuses, there are more than 300,000 books, and subject librarians constantly work to ensure the most recent copies of books are available for students across all subjects studied at the institution.

Rather than old books being thrown away to be recycled, the University sells them through an online shop on Amazon, creating an income for the institution and ensuring the book remain in circulation.

Details of the scheme were published in Relay, the journal for professionals working in national, research or academic libraries, with the intention of sharing best practice for the benefit of others.

Since the scheme began in 2004, the University has made nearly £20,000 selling books across the UK and occasionally overseas. Most customers are other academic organisations, although some appear to be students or members of the public.

Anna O'Neill, Head of Library Services at the University of Chichester, said: “Selling books on Amazon is straight forward and need not be time consuming. Knowing what to sell and for how much becomes easier with experience. However, the real benefit is keeping books out of landfill and still in circulation.”

To read the full article, visit: http://www.cilip.org.uk/get-involved/special-interest-groups/ucr/publications/Documents/Relay%2061%20-%20Final.pdf

Leading childhood studies textbook by Chichester academic moves into third edition 21/01/11

A popular textbook for childhood studies students has been published in its third edition by a University of Chichester academic.

The book, Special Needs and Early Years, is written by Kate Wall, the programme leader for the Early Childhood Studies degree course, and has become a standard course reader on similar programmes across the UK.

Along with her other books, it has contributed to Kate’s election to the national board of the National Children’s Bureau and the Early Years Advisory Board of the National Association of Special Educational Needs. She is also a regular speaker at conferences both in the UK and abroad.

Kate has been at the University of Chichester since 2007 and, until 1999, was an early years teacher across mainstream and special settings for more than 20 years. As the Head of an Early Years Special Unit, Kate developed a wealth of knowledge and experience which informs her writing as well as her teaching at the University.